Around this point in time, say, 1990-1992, Konami, despite having plenty of successful titles under their belt, didn’t really have any kind of mascot to call their own. Yeah, they had plenty of successful franchises, like Castlevania, Contra, Gradius, and so on, but they didn’t have a main character that had that worldwide appealing factor to them, as can be seen with other video game mascots like Mario, Sonic, Mega Man, and Bub- I MEAN, UH………. Aero the Acro-Bat. Nice save there, Mega. But anyway, these characters were all the rage back in the day, so they figured that they needed to throw their hat into the ring somehow, and they managed to do so by not only creating a cute animal mascot to call their own… but also by giving them a rocket pack! This character would then get to star in the first of quite a few games known simply as Rocket Knight Adventures.

For the longest time, I had never played any Rocket Knight game before, but I REALLY wanted to, as it looked to be right up my alley. I am a big fan of these mascot platformers from back in the day, and it looked like it had the exact kind of chaotic energy that Konami usually put into their games back then, which I adore, along with charming characters placed right alongside it. It’s almost as if they made this game just for somebody like me! However, I still hadn’t checked it out in a long time, so I knew it was about time that I finally gave the series a proper shot, so I played through the first game, and yeah, it was just as great as I expected it to be. This is definitely one of the best mascot platformers that you can find on the Sega Genesis, giving you everything you could want from one of these games, mixed with a dash of Contra-level energy and craziness that makes it damn near perfect for someone like me.

The story is pretty decent for a game in this genre, where chaos erupts in the kingdom of Zephyrus, with the fair Princess Sherry being captured by the evil Axel Gear, along with a mysterious force seeking to reactivate the power of a destructive starship known as the Pig Star (hey, if Sonic can do it, so can this series), so it is up to Sparkster, taught in the ways of being a Rocket Knight, to set out to not only save the princess but also to stop the Pig Star from destroying everything, which is a story that basically decided to take the two most generic plot points for platformers from the 90s and combine them into one, which I can definitely respect. The graphics are wonderful, having plenty of colorful levels to travel through, accompanied with plenty of characters and enemies, Sparkster included, that have wonderful designs, the music is pretty great, having plenty of up-beat, yet still menacing-at-times tunes playing throughout the game, with this just being one of the many great tracks to be found here, and the gameplay/control feels just right for this kind of game, giving you plenty to work with for a typical platformer, while also mixing in plenty of fresh and exciting elements to help it stand completely on its own.

The game is an 2D action platformer, where you take control of Sparkster, go through a set of seven different levels spanning many different environments that range from peaceful and simple to deadly and chaotic, slash your way through many different enemies using your trusty blade or your rocket pack in many different situations, gather plenty of fruit to keep yourself healed throughout the journey, as well as extra lives for whenever you die (not IF you die), and take on plenty of large and insane bosses, each putting the player’s skill to the test in plenty of different ways. You have all the right ingredients for a fairly standard platformer present here, but then you have the standout elements that make Sparkster what he is, mixing them together with these standard elements, to end up with a concoction that provides a sweet and satisfying experience all the way through.

Sparkster himself does many of the typical things a platformer mascot should, such as running, jumping, and slicing down foes with a weapon of his choice, but alongside all of that, he also incorporates the rocket pack in with everything else, making for one of the best mechanics of the game. With this rocket pack, you can charge it up and launch yourself in any direction you wish, allowing you to not only speed along through plenty of different parts of the levels, but to also reach certain areas you wouldn’t be able to do so otherwise, and to cause MASSIVE damage to enemies and bosses while swinging your sword, and that shit right there ROCKS, I don’t care what anyone says. Mix all that with some other small, yet nice touches, like how you can hang onto trees and other platforms at some points, along with level gimmicks like going in and out of the background and high-speed cart segments, and Rocket Knight Adventures gives the player plenty of challenges to overcome with some kick-ass tools to boot, and it is a joy from start to finish in every way.

Not only that, but the game also makes sure to keep the gameplay fresh and unexpected as you go along, with there being plenty of sections and entire levels where it will change up the gameplay style to make things interesting. There will be plenty of instances where you will be continuously rocketing forward, taking on a horizontal shmup style, slicing down many things flying in your way, dodging plenty of projectiles coming from all over the place, and taking on plenty of bosses along the way. It doesn’t do anything too crazy with these segments, certainly not to the level of actual shmups out there, but it manages to be refreshing and fun enough to where you can definitely get behind it a lot of the time. If all of that wasn’t enough for you, how about an entire boss fight of the game where you control a GIANT ROBOT, swinging punches at Axel Gear, who is also in a giant robot, in an over-the-top game of Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots? It isn’t necessarily the best segment in the game, but it does still manage to be fun and fairly tricky, to where when you manage to take Axel Gear down, you feel like you truly triumphed over a hard foe.

And speaking of triumphing over a hard foe, that belatedly leads onto one of my only real criticisms for the game as a whole: it is REALLY HARD. In the good ol’ classic Konami tradition, this game will not hold any punches, sending plenty of enemies and hazards you way at any chance it gets, some that can even insta-kill you if you aren’t careful, and you need to react accordingly and carefully in these situations, otherwise that rocket knight suit will be donned by nothing other than a rotting marsupial corpse. Granted, there are plenty of difficulty options that can help you make things easier for yourself, but once again, this is a Konami game, which means that not only will you not get the true ending by playing on certain difficulties, but the amount of lives and continues that you get vary greatly depending on which difficulty you choose, mostly not in your favor. Also, this may be just a little personal grievance, but I think the final level gets a LIIIIIIIITLE too trigger happy with its bosses, as you have to go through, like, five or six of them before you have truly beaten the game, even during sequences when you think you are truly save. Again though, that might just be me.

Overall, despite how brutal it can be and the final level dragging things out further than they needed to be, I can’t believe I didn’t try out any of these games sooner, because this first entry manages to get just about everything right, having wonderful and charming visuals, a soundtrack full of bangers, incredibly fun and satisfying gameplay, and that classic 90s Konami insanity that I just can’t get enough of. I would definitely recommend it for those who are a big fan of mascot platformers, as well as those who are looking for more games from the Genesis to play, because if you haven’t given this game a shot yet, then you, my friend, like me for most of my life, were truly missing out. And hey, it’s even coming back in a brand new collection, so that means you will have very easy means to try it out!............. unless you wanna play it right now, in which case, if you aren’t willing to go out and find a copy for yourself, yar-har-fiddly-dee it is.

Game #569

I'm going to come out and say it, Rocket Knight Adventures is the best game on the Sega Genesis. A bold statement, but man Konami crushed it with their Genesis games. Rocket Knight’s rocket pack controls are so intuitive and fun, hold the attack button down and release it to jet yourself forward in any of the eight directions. It opens up platforming quite a bit and it doubles as an attack. Some people love their movement options in games this by far is one of my favorites. On top of that Rocket Knight has great level design that's always throwing something new at you. It even breaks up the platforming sections with horizontal shoot-'em-up sections. One of the cooler bits is in level 3 where are you have to use the reflection of rising and falling lava to make jumps. This game also has an amazing boss fights and a lot of them to boot. Boss fights seem to been Konami is MO in the 90s. I think anyone who's played the game remembers the Rock'em Sock'em robot fight in level five.

For years I have seen many say that this is one of the best genesis games ever made. Some say one of the best platformers in general. And yeah now after finally beating it, I get it. It has so much of that Konami charm you would find in all of their early retro titles. The music is a banger that kept me motivated. Your nemesis was such an interesting character and when you finally went up against him in the final level it was really nuts. Finally boss also had me nervous especially after I had thought I beat the game. The level design is well done and fun to experience the stages. The sword and rocket charge mechanic was fun to use and added a great layer of action and momentum compared to your run of the mill platformer. The concept of this main character I also just love. I can see why Konami had Sparkster as a mascot for a while. Super fun and engaging game from level to level without stop. Felt like an arcade game that was made just for the genesis. A schmup level in space, a boss where you fight in a mech, a boss while riding on a minecart. Game had lots of surprises and creativity. Wonder if the sequel is just as good... Highly recommend

This is possibly my favorite 16-bit mascot platformer yet (not counting Mario here). The final stretch is guilty of some arcade design philosophies, with some kinda high difficulty, and, you guessed it, "gotcha" moments.

But goddamn, the charm and creativity more than make up for that to me. Every one of the 6 or 7 stages feel so incredibly distinct from each other.

Not only that, but once you realize that you can kind of abuse the very generous i-frames that your rocket boost gives you, and that attacking enemies also grant some i-frames, the game gets even better.

And Sparkster is the greatest mascot of all time, you know it to be true. His design is cool as hell, and he is filled with personality, and he's just a damn 16-bit sprite!

One of the more under-appreciated mascots of the 16-bit era. Rocket Knight Adventures feels like it was crafted with love, being one of the best looking games on the Sega Genesis.

An action platformer with a rocket boost mechanic, the game feels like Donkey Kong Country with the ability to shoot out of a blast barrel at will. Absolutely satisfying gameplay and Konami knocked it out of the park on their first try.

Difficulty is hard but fair. If you play with unlimited continues, the challenge level is somewhere around the challenge of a souls game, maybe a little easier. Bosses are easily the best part of the game.

I remember being super impressed by all the setpieces in this game, and now having finished the game, the setpieces absolutely do not slow down until the credits roll. Quite impressive again for a Genesis tile. Pls bring this boy back Konami.

this game is awesome. theres so much to love with the style, the music, the way the game feels, overall i just had a great time with it. it is very difficult and i remember the first time i tried this game i turned it off pretty quickly because of the difficulty but trying it again now im happy i gave it a second chance even if i used save states a couple times here and there. honestly though i would love to go back to this some time and try to get better at it not dying as much or trying to go save stateless, i think i would find a much deeper appreciation for it on subsequent playthroughs

Oh, wow. This had, like, no right to be this good. I mean, Rocket Knight never really picked up enough steam to remain a big franchise, and from a glance, it just seems like one of the many early failed attempts at cashing in on Sonic's popularity. But Konami pulled no punches here, this is not only a great platformer, but an impressive demonstration that Konami really knew how to take advantage of the Genesis, and would go on to do it several more times later.

Rocket Knight Adventures has a spectacle on a similar level to Contra III, showering you with plenty of bosses with individually animated limbs, actiony setpieces, and constantly changing visuals. Due to the short 1-hour length, these moments are relentless, and relentlessly exciting. The difficulty may slow down your progress at times, but it's worth it to push through and see what's gonna happen in the next stage, and the next stage, and the next.

The big gameplay draw of Rocket Knight beyond just the usual jumping and attacking, is how you use your jetpack. The jetpack acts as a sort of 8-directional speed boost that you charge up in order to use. After which, you blast off at high speeds, ricocheting from one wall to another like you're in a pinball machine, at the expense of losing control for a brief amount of time. This gives Rocket Knight some minor strategical lean, as you'll often have to position yourself accordingly to make good use of the mechanic. Figuring out ways to abuse it to get around the stage faster is exhilerating, and makes up a lot of the game's fun.

While there isn't much else to say, there doesn't need to be anything else to say. If you like cool boss fights, Genesis games that went crazy with their special effects, and are in the mood for a good ol' platformer, this'll fill the hole in your heart. Just a solid-ass effort, is what this was. It's a shame the other games did not match up to this one, perhaps Rocket Knight would've still been with us if they did.

Many of you will just have to trust me when I say there's no niche furry following for this guy and that's shocking. Klonoa hasn't had a game in a thousand years either but that guy's fuckin popular. Is it because the 360 game sucked? Would we have gotten a revival if it had been good? The only option is for me to make a Sparkster OC, they'll be green with TWO swords.

Anyway this game kicks ass. I only really played the sequel (Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2, not Sparkster, the SNES game, which also exists to confuse you) and I loved it back then but knew this one was supposed to be better. Gamers are incredibly hyperbolic about this kind of thing so I'm pretty sure it's fine, but I admit part of my argument for that was the robot boxing section and turns out this one ALSO has a robot boxing section which pokes a big hole in my identity as a defender of Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2 (not Sparkster)

Apparently, the goal with RKA was for Konami to prove that the loss of the Treasure developers would not stop them making fantastic action games, and they succeeded. Fantastic Genesis synth jams, cute and memorable characters, and a ton of neat bosses and gimmicks, paced out perfectly, it's all there. It really stands out as an action game of the era by eschewing the kinda "jungle level, water level, fire level" structure for something more narrative. The first of seven stages sends you through enough different environments to justify 2-3 stages of lesser games, but each one after that gets progressively smaller in scale, not that it really matters. Just an observation.

If I was going to complain, it would be about all the things that can instantly kill you with pits and crushing and such, many of which can't be easily forseen on your first go. But honestly I know I wouldn't be dinging the game for that if it was one I'd already played enough to smooth over it, so I won't.

Fuck man you get a recurring rival that's just you but cooler and purple. Can't be beat. Looking forward to playing the other, worse games and giving them a 3 or a 4 on here probably.

Rocket Knight Adventures is a game with a lot of charm and a great style, but unfortunately gets pretty annoying in a few too many places.

The first big thing is limited lives/continues. I've never really liked this sort of limiter, and makes games needlessly punishing. Playing with infinite lives made the game much more fun to play, and kept challenge intact. In fact, most of the game is a good challenge. The bosses are the highlight, as the parts with regular enemies are fun enough but not particularly memorable. Most bosses are quite fun, although a few are annoying.

Presentation wise, the game's great. The music is really good (especially that boss theme) and the spritework is appealing and expressive.

All in all, pretty above average for platformers of it's time. It's got a few signs of age in the game design that unfortunately bring it down a bit for me, away from the likes of something like Gunstar Heroes. However, it's still a good time and I can recommend it.

The game has such an energy to it. It may seem like a mascot platformer at first glance, but it's really more of an action game. The boss fights are awesome. They really have that "Treasure" spectactle arcadey feeling to them even if this game came out a month before Gunstar. The soundtrack is pretty great. Not Sonic or Streets of Rage tier but still pretty good. My only real complaint is that the game can feel a little cheap with the patterns at times, but I suppose that just adds to the arcadey feel. If you're a Genesis fan, you should try this game.

Sparkster is so cool! They tick so many random checkboxes for me!

[X] Anthro
[X] Cool Armor
[X] Jet Pack
[X] Goggles (Goggles are cool)
[X] Expert Mech Pilot

What endeared them so much to me too was actually their idle animation! They look so jovial, they're happpy to be the hero! Sparkster doesn't brood (Ignore the NA cover here), he's anxious to start the day and get to the rescue of their fair princess! He's a gallant jet-propelled knight who's a zoom zoomin' all around and beating up all the bad guys! Mr. Nutz, Punky Skunk and Zero The Kamikaze Squirrel are so angry that Sparkster is actually awesome! They are so mad! Sonic's got nothin' on Sparkster! Except merchandise apparently! What gives Konami? Where's my Sparkster nendoroid , Sparkster YGO cards, Sparkster party accessories, and Sparkster line of clothing?

Ah well, knowing my luck they'd use this look instead, and I'd be an absurdly sad rabbit. Fuck that guy, this is the boy you want.

This game rips, it's Saturday Morning Cartoon down to the empowering theme music that blares from the first stage and goes off after every victory. Sparkster's here to fuck shit up! Those damn pigs won't know what hit'em! You got that patented Konami difficulty, but thankfully they kept themselves in line and didn't Bayou Billy this one. As a matter of fact we actually got all the difficulties unlocked by default over here in NA! Thank the lord above that Konami wasn't dumb enough to make their mascot platformer harder than 90% of the Famicom library, although they were cheeky enough to call Japanese "Normal" the "Children" difficulty and cut you off from the final boss if you played on that. Couldn't help yourselves could you?

Konami: "Nope."

Easily one of the most memorable titles I ever played on the Genesis back then, you know it's memorable when I didn't even own this shit and only played on Sega Channel! I so wish I had owned it growing up though! I would've been a master at it and been Rocket Royalty of some sorts.

You're the coolest Sparkster! Look at him! AAAAA HE'S SO FUCKIN' COOL!!!